I'd ban all technology in the classroom.
What works is chalkboard and chalk, pencil and paper.
You'll never get strong by watching a video of people lifting weights. Similarly, you'll never understand math by watching a video or having an AI do the work for you. And, somehow, writing out the words and equations by hand is very effective for learning.
https://www.holdenluntz.com/artists/keystone-press-agency/al...
Here's how to tell if their homework is done by AI: if the homework was much better quality than the in-class work.
Not always. I once got accused of cheating at University because my take-home assignment was so much better than my in class work. At home there was no pressure to perform. I could practice and try things.
I once was accused of cheating as well, as my term paper was "too good". (Long before computers.) I brought in my cites (books) the next day and dumped it on his desk. He grudgingly changed the grade from F to A.
Nothing is perfect.
If your in class work is of the same quality as homework you are obviously not trying very hard.
I do not think your example is at all fair. You can definitely learn from the way AI solves a math question.
> You can definitely learn from the way AI solves a math question.
Challenge: learn some math from AI. Sleep on it. Duplicate it on paper the next day.
It’s not math but I’m using AI to help study and learn DSA. I’m finding it helpful.
But yeah you need to make attempts to apply what you’re learning and answer questions on your own. You can’t simply watch problems being solved (whether by an AI or a person) and retain it.
Many times I was sure I understood something by watching it. Then, when it came time to do it, I realized I didn't understand at all.
And it's not just for math. Try it with learning to light a fire without matches. I watched the survival experts on "Alone" fail at that, and fail at building a fireplace, and fail at building bear proof food storage, fail at archery, fail at fishing, and so on. (I'm not claiming to be a survival expert, I wouldn't last a week on that show.)
No work equals no learn.
There are ways to make it work, but it requires using it only supplementary and with strict discipline. And it will look different for a 6-year old than a 13-year old.
But think of this trick we use about turning a tricky research paper in maths/science into something more tangible by making an LLM whip up an interactive version. That works at every level of education, and it means that you can completely tailor a piece of educational material to the kid
Tiny example: one kid was introduced to fractions and found it abstract that it was both about partitioning stuff and about numbers on a number line. So while we were practicing, I had an LLM make https://fuglede.codeberg.page/broeklegeplads/ to make it more hands-on.
Obviously for the small kids, this has to be an experience guided by teachers and parents, but for bright older kids with sufficient discipline that ought to be a useful trick for enhancing education.
Of course when we were kids, we would just write such educational programs ourselves and get the same effect /and/ learn to program (before getting banned from the computer room for putting spooky /binaries/ on the computers anyway), so maybe that's better for older kids. And maybe these kids will never have to do any maths or programming because the AI overlords have taken over when they grow up.
Is this supposed to be difficult?
Try it and see.
I have already used AI to help me study for my finals, It has helped me so I don't think I need to go out of my way to repeat again.
I never understood P vs NP until I say down with AI and just kept asking for clarification after clarification until it finally clicked.
AI, used well, isn't just 'teach me this' its 'teach me this and answer all my dumb questions until I understand it'.
You might pick up tips the same way watching a workout video could give you tips. But it means nothing until you physically put it in to practice.
So is watching a trainer showing you a move and telling you to do it but you not moving at all. You need to cooperate with AI it's not a silver bullet that will.move your body for you.
Not really, you might understand it in the moment, but to learn something you need to do actual work. An example is, watch a thousand hours on photography, how to take great photos. Go out and try to take great photos, you will fail. This is why all serious tutors keep saying ”stop watching and go out and take photos, every day, all the time”. I don’t know Rust, but I can understand AI outputting some Rust code if I ask it to. Two days later I won’t be able to write it again.
I disagree. You learned something at that point it is up to you to repeat it and make it stick and make sure you learned it correctly. No teacher no AI nothing can fix that unless you take the time. Because of this I think it is irrelevant to the topic. I want to go back to the math problem, you can definitely understand the solution and learn it, then it is up to you to practice. Goof thing about AI is it can throw you many more questions to make sure it sticks and help you know what you did wrong. It is susceptible to mistakes, yes but first of all those models are not made to be math teachers and real teachers also make mistakes. One advantage of AI is it can tirelesely explain the solution to you again and again unlike a real person.
> Goof thing about AI is it can throw you many more questions
I.e. you need to answer the questions, which means work through them yourself, rather than just watching the video.
I apologize if I'm in the wrong but I do not ever remember claiming you could just lesrn through looking at AI alone. I only defended the fact you can learn by analyzing how an AI model solved an issue. To me whenever I talk about an AI talk it goes back and forth. So in my mind it was always AI talking about a topic, then giving you an example question which you yourself solve. However for topics such as history yes indeed this is absolutely possible as they depend on memorization.
Thank you for the clarification.
Chalkboard, pencil and paper are also technology. Ban them. Instead rely purely on the vocal chords to tell stories of old.
I actually think students should learn how to use a computer algebra system as early as possible so that it becomes second nature. Being and expert user of a CAS makes math vastly more interesting and less tedious.
> I'd ban all technology in the classroom. What works is chalkboard and chalk, pencil and paper.
You've prohibited technology and then listed four technologies. "Technology" needs a more concrete definition. Calculators? Computers? TVs? Overhead projectors? Musical instruments?
They appear to be equating technology with products that did not exist when they were in elementary school.
That would be correct! And all the technology added since has resulted in no discernible improvement in educational results.
In college, the classes were a lecture with a professor, 9 blackboards and colored chalk. Not even handouts (well, there was one on time dilation).
Calculators utterly wiped out slide rules when I was in college, though nobody learned any math from a calculator. Calculators just made for quicker work to more significant figures.
This is nitpicking
And sure, kids 6-13 don't need calculators, basic stuff, like multiplication tables is memorized.
I attempted to memorize the times tables. Eventually, I noticed the pattern. From then on, I used the pattern rather than memorization. For example, I compute 9*12 as 90+18.
I assume you're hinting at this, but yeah, that's the idea behind getting children to memorize and do rote math early on. There's really no better way to get people to really deep down learn strategies for dealing with numbers than repeatedly practicing and memorising stuff until they accumulate a huge bag of mental "shortcuts" and patterns and strategies they use